| In 1888, the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad began
building north out of Manistee, headed in the general direction of Traverse
City. Before the railroad got anywhere near Traverse City, it was a very
busy and successful line. It was built through "big timber" and the railroad
hauled out at least two trainloads a day. By 1892 the line was completed
to Traverse City.
Over the next decade, the railroad grew to 181 miles by
adding branches to Lake Leelanau and Grayling. The timber traffic continued
strong and in addition, the railroad did a good passenger business, selling
190,000 tickets in 1915. However, in the early 1920's the traffic disappeared.
The line was bankrupt and filed for abandonment. The branch to Grayling was
abandoned but the rest was reorganized and operated for a few years before
being sold to the Pere Marquette.
Cedar is on a branch of the M & NE that left the "main
line" at Solon and ran to Provemont, now called Lake Leeland
(map). The M & NE may have intended to build
on to Northport and connect with a short lived car ferry that ran to Manistique.
There was some trouble bridging Lake Leelanau, and so the branch ended there.
It was abandoned in 1944 and the tracks were removed. The depot survived.
It was used as a novelty store, The Whistle Stop, in the late 1990's. Most
recently, the depot has been home to "Antique Junction", an antiques store
with a very nice selection of wooden furniture and lights. |
